Palestine Wants Better Communication With US On Gaza Plan

By Shakir Husain

NEW DELHI, Jan 29 (Bernama) -- Palestine wants better direct communication with the Donald Trump administration as the United States (US) leads the "Board of Peace" initiative for calm and reconstruction in the Israeli-destroyed Gaza Strip.

As the issue involves the Palestinians, "we need people speaking with us", Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said during a visit to India.

"There is communication with the United States, specifically with our vice president (Hussein Al Sheikh). Of course, not to the extent that is needed because today we want full communication," she told reporters at Palestinian Embassy in New Delhi on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump signed the board's charter on Jan 22 at the World Economic Forum in Davos in the presence of leaders from several countries who have joined the scheme.

Many close US allies, including European countries, have turned down the invitation to be part of the board, while influential Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye and Indonesia have joined it.

The Palestinian Authority has welcomed the idea as stipulated in the UN Security Council Resolution 2803 adopted in November last year to end the carnage in Gaza.

It serves as a transitional administration, coordinating funding for Gaza’s redevelopment and helping to create conditions for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.

The Palestinian foreign minister highlighted the dire living conditions in Gaza.

Israel has killed more than 71,600 people and injured 171,000 people since October 2023, according to official Palestinian figures.

Shahin said 10,000 to 20,000 people are missing in Gaza and they may be buried under the rubble of bombed buildings or held in Israeli detention camps.

Israel has caused a huge number of "indirect deaths" as well by blocking access to food and medicine for the Palestinians in Gaza whose population was 2.3 million before the carnage began.

Besides carrying out a genocide in Gaza, the Israeli military and illegal settlers continue to wreak havoc in the occupied West Bank in a campaign that combines ethnic cleansing, burning of native homes and property, land encroachment, and unchecked violence.

"The West Bank is very volatile," the Palestinian foreign minister said.

-- BERNAMA